THE CANE. 242 



THE CANE. 



THE Calamus Aromaticus, or sweet-scented cane, grows in Egypt, 

 in Judea, and in several parts of Syria, but the best kind is found 

 in Arabia and India. It was probably among the number of those 

 plants that the Queen of Sheba presented to Solomon. So power- 

 ful is its fragrance, that the air is said to be filled with a strong aro- 

 matic smell, even while it is growing (see Cant. iv. 13, 14) ; and 

 when dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the 

 richest perfumes. It was used for this purpose by the Jews, Exo- 

 dus xxx. 23 ; Isaiah xliii. 24. 



Jeremiah (ch. vi. 20), speaks of the * rich aromatic reed,' as com- 

 ing from a * far country,' whence it would hardly have been fetched, 

 could it have been procured near home. It is most probable, as 

 Dr. Harris suggests, that this reed, as well as the frankincense spok- 

 en of in connexion with it, came to them from Saba, where it 

 grew. Saba, we know, was situated towards the southern peninsu- 

 la of Arabia ; so that it was, indeed, witli respect to Judea, * a far 

 country,' as it also is said to be in Joel iii. 8. And our Saviour, 

 speaking of its queen, whom he calls ' the queen of the south,' says 

 that she came * from the extreme parts of the earth,' Matthew xii. 

 42. In the book of Exodus, also, the calamus is said to come from 

 * a far country.' 



THE FLAG. 



THERE are two words in the Hebrew, sometimes translated 

 * flag,' in our Bibles; though in Genesis xli. 2, 18, the one is ren- 

 dered meadow, and in Jonah ii. 5, the other, * weeds.' It probably 

 denotes the sedge or long grass, which grows in the meadows of 

 the Nile. 



21 



